Is VR dead?

[Bjarne Hansen]

Never got why you feel the need for a helmet in VR or sim racing at all.
Maybe as a professional driver/ team but then why a substandard Oculus rift.
Looks like a joke to me.

 

[Cote Dazur]

to see a start up or maybe an established manufacturer make a sim racing specific VR headset. Something that is either in a race helmet replica, or just mimics the view from a helmet

I agree, surprising we have not seen any "serious" offering yet, I would be very interested. though about adapting my CV1 to one of my older motorcycle helmet but not sure how.

A couple of companies are already attempting something similar but I can't see it catching on with these current iterations.

Helmet VR

That Helmet VR is interesting, would love to try one, but at € 2.459, I cannot even start to understand how they come to that price. You don't need the highest protection, super protective helmet, not going to crash in VR, LOL, so that much to adapt a VR goggles to an helmet!, really?

 

[GeekyDeaks]

I saw people making backpack PCs that allowed you to freeroam in VR not being tied to anything. I was expecting that kind of experience (not necessarily just laser tag) being how the public would mostly interact with VR at first, but I didn't really see it being developed past a concept.

That sounds familar actually. Just prior to lockdown, my brother in-law had been looking at a group of us trying this out: https://zerolatencyvr.com/

 

[TedBrosby-]

A couple of companies are already attempting something similar but I can't see it catching on with these current iterations.

Helmet VR

Stilo

Nothing says, "Say goodbye to your KickStarter contribution" quite like a website without SSL does.
Maybe you can use HelmetVR headset with your FeelVR wheelbase and pedals.

 

[Fat-Alfie]

This could be an interesting development, and AR/VR is even mentioned in the article - a form of electronic lens made of liquid crystals that can be reshaped to form a flat lense. It should be with us in 3 - 5 years.

"At Scope Photonics in Ontario, Canada, they want to create lossless zoom for all kinds of images, which means any photo enjoying a close-up will remain consistently sharp. Chief executive Holden Beggs and his team have been working on a type of technology harnessing liquid crystals, made popular by liquid-crystal display (LCD) screens found in living rooms and retail displays across the world.

Scope Photonics has found a way to make liquid crystals "spin like tops" and reorganise themselves based on how light moves through them. The effect is to mimic a zoom lens system. So instead of a series of lenses, Scope's system can zoom in and out with just the one lens.

The International Runner Up for the 2020 James Dyson Award, Scope is prototyping the lens technology on medical devices first, and aims to bring these lenses to smartphone cameras in three years. In virtual reality especially, those companies want to reduce the bulkiness of those headsets, and that's what we want to do, and it's what we do now with our very thin lenses.

In Utah, a group of researchers have developed a lens a hundred times lighter and a thousand times thinner than the iPhone 11's lenses. Rajesh Menon, associate professor in electrical and computer engineering at Utah University, says a common problem for current phone cameras is spotting out-of-focus reds and blues and correcting - that often requires an additional lens."

 

[blekenbleu]

Majority Of VR Developers Working On Quest, GDC Survey Suggests​

52% of responses, sourced from over 3K developers said that Quest was the VR platform that interested them the most, followed by PSVR and Index at 28% each.

AR FOR CONSUMERS HAS (barely) ARRIVED! - Nreal Light Consumer Edition for Android
Nearly no VR software support.

 

[RCHeliguy]

I didn't realize that StarVR had updated their headset to 8K for only $8330

That has the view I'm looking for, but not in that form factor or that weight.

Looks like it has a few issues for us as individuals, but the fact they are selling this for Air Force flight simulators is great.

XTAL 8K Headset | Enterprise VR Headset | VRgineers

Enterpirse VR Headset - the training & simulation choice of professional pilots, drivers & experts. Software compatibility, fully offline, 6DoF, and 180° FoV.

www.xtal.pro

 

[Deleted member 197115]

And another semi-exciting news.

Exclusive: Next-Gen PlayStation VR Is 4K With Foveated Rendering And Vibration Feature

Sony’s next-generation VR headset for PlayStation 5 has significantly higher resolution, inside-out tracking, a vibration motor, and even foveated rendering, reliable sources tell UploadVR. We don’t yet know the product’s name, but multiple sources tell us Sony shared details with partners...

uploadvr.com

 

[Deleted member 197115]

And watch for HTC announcement tomorrow

HTC may announce two new Vive VR headsets on May 11th

No specs or images have been leaked as of yet.

www.theverge.com

 

[TedBrosby-]

Good timing. I just sold my Valve Index to a friend for $700 because I'm taking a vacation for three months this summer to visit family. Bring me them 4k headsets, gonna buy a 3090 while I'm in California in summer!
Oh man, if Gran Turismo 7 fixes the issues that made it only "okay" as a sim, like upgrading the downforce and adding a better collision model so people don't wall ride, and it has true VR? That will be game changing for the sim racing world.
If RaceRoom upgrades its graphics engine to use DX12 and better VR, it'll bankrupt every sim in the market. It's my favorite sim for feel/content value, I just can't stand how it runs in VR.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

For me R3E is the easiest title to run in VR. Or you meant something else, not performance?

 

[Deleted member 197115]

And watch for HTC announcement tomorrow

HTC Announces Vive Pro 2 For Consumers & Vive Focus 3 For Businesses

As expected, HTC announced not one but two new VR headsets at its ViveCon virtual event today: the HTC Vive Pro 2 and the HTC Vive Focus 3. The Vive Pro 2 is a PC VR headset aimed at both enthusiast consumers and enterprise use, while the Vive Focus 3

uploadvr.com

Just same old Vive Pro with higher res panels, even tracking is the same, guess Cosmos inside out fiasco taught them not to experiment anymore.

 

[RCHeliguy]

"The kit features LCD displays offering 2448×2448 per-eye resolution with a 120Hz refresh rate and a 120 degree field of view (FOV)."

That's not bad. I'd love to see Valve come out with a similar offering. I'd happily anti up for a new headset and keep the rest of my system. I'm still not sold on HTC products.

Ideally I'd like Valve to go just a bit wider with their FOV, but I'd buy a new Valve headset even at the price HTC is charging for their headset.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Detailed spec

Vive Pro 2 Specs: 5K 120Hz LCD, Wider FoV, Price

We've got the full rundown of Vive Pro 2 specs after HTC announced its newest VR headset at Vivecon today.

uploadvr.com

 

[RCHeliguy]

I like that HTC is not marketing this headset as a 10K headset which they could based on the current conventions. I do think that with that much resolution there is room to widen the FOV a bit more than they did, but it should definitely be sharp.

 

[blekenbleu]

with that much resolution there is room to widen the FOV

With FoV already about that of eyeglasses,
increasing sweet spot is IMO more interesting.

 

[RCHeliguy]

With FoV already about that of eyeglasses,
increasing sweet spot is IMO more interesting.

I could see that mattering to many.

It doesn't happen that often, but in some room scale games I have moved my head fast enough for my headset to shift out of the sweet spot.

 

[blekenbleu]

I have moved my head fast

I was never fast and am now old; trying to move it quickly makes my head hurt.
With poor depth perception IRL, apexes were typically judged
by lining up track objects with background details,
which was doomed in VR by Odyssey's lower resolution,
but can work e.g. with Reverb and proper LoD of objects in sweet spot..

 

[Insert Coin]

This is funny: https://uploadvr.com/vive-pro-2-index-controllers-cheaper/

 

[RCHeliguy]

Sounds like a good deal and it makes their headset seem like a better value